Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Yemen Mourns Influential Civic Leader

Thousands mourned the assassinated veteran and influential civic and political leader, Mohammed Abdel Malek al-Mutawakel today; joining a massive funeral in the city of Sana'a. The following are selection of photos from the funeral..

Al-Mutawakel was one of the influential voices in fighting political, sectarian and violent bigotries. He was a committed advocate for democracy, civic rights and equal citizenship, among many noble causes he was active about. As a beginner reporter for the Yemen Observer in early 2009, I used to always listen to Al-Mutawakel's inputs tentatively during my cover to some events he attended. To my bad, I didn't have the honor to know him in person, but he was and remains to be loved by thousands and thousands - he's always been and will always be an icon.

The devastating thing with his departure is that he was assassinated. The assassination caused grand outrage and an anguish too.

Undoubtedly, his legacy shall lives on. The following excerpt from one of his TV appearances shall never leave my mind. He was asked; "what's your message to the people?" "The message I want to tell to the people," he replied, "they have to continue the peaceful and democratic work, because that is what will make the change."